The Dangers of Instant Soup

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Instant noodles or soups are a fast food that have become quite popular in recent years and are an easy and inexpensive option for people too short on time to cook and/or eat something healthier. Even though people who eat them don’t necessarily consider them healthy, they do tend to believe they are healthier than hamburgers, burritos, french fries, or other fast foods.

However, people don’t know that this isn’t necessarily a good alternative, since studies such as experiments conducted by Dr. Braden Kuo, from Massachusetts General Hospital, have shown that these soups tend to have a negative effect on the body. We’re about to share some of the surprising dangers of instant soup in this article, so keep on reading.

Instant noodles are not easily digested

Studies have found that instant noodles remain intact in the stomach, even after two hours. This is a lot more time compared to other types of homemade noodles. This finding creates several concerns due to the impact of its poor digestion.

For starters, the digestive system can experience strong tension, due to the fact that it has to work for hours to digest these highly processed foods. When a food remains in the digestive tract for a long time, it also impacts the absorption of nutrients, but noodles and instant soups don’t offer many nutritional benefits. Instead of nutrients, this type of food has a long list of additives, a few of which include the toxic preservative tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ).

It is very likely that this additive stays in the stomach with the noodles, which can cause serious health problems during the time span it takes to digest the noodles.

Only 5 grams of the TBHQ preservative can be lethal

For those of you who don’t know what the tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) preservative is, let me tell you that it is a petroleum byproduct, that can be tricky since they often appear as an “antioxidant”, but consumers need to understand that although synthetic chemicals can have antioxidant properties, it is not the same thing as natural antioxidants that are good for your body. These types of synthetic “antioxidants” avoid the oxidation of fats and oils, which lengthens the usefulness of the processed foods shelf life.

TBHQ is found in the majority of processed foods found on the shelf, independently of commercial brands. In addition, it is included in varnishes, lacquers, insecticides, make-up, and perfumes in order to lower the evaporation rate and make it more stable.

Even though experts on food additives have determined that humans can handle low doses of TBHQ, it has been found that 5 grams of this additive can be lethal. In fact, the Dictionary of Food Additives states that being exposed to one gram of TBHQ can cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, and a feeling of asphyxiation, among others.

Eating instant soup is related to metabolic syndrome

A recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition determined that women that consumed higher amounts of instant soups or noodles had a higher risk for metabolic syndrome compared to those who ate less, regardless of other eating habits or exercise.

According to this study, the women that consumed instant soup twice a week were 68% more likely to get metabolic syndrome, which leads to many other more serious diseases like obesity, arterial hypertension, high blood sugar, triglycerides, and low levels of the good HDL cholesterol. In addition, people that ate more instant soup had lower amounts of important nutrients such as protein, calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C, compared to those that did not eat it. Furthermore, the levels of bad fats, calories, and sodium were higher.

The best thing is a healthy diet if you want to enjoy good health

Even though instant soup every now and then isn’t particularly dangerous to your health, eating it a lot can create serious health problems in the future. The best thing is to choose better and fresher foods, which are natural and healthy for the body. You should cut out processed foods from the diet, which is easiest to do if you plan meals ahead of time and follow through as the week goes on.

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